Did You Know...

In February, I gave the annoying platitude of the day award to politicians in both parties and MSM types who mindlessly talk about “managing the economy.”

It’s a hard habit to break. John McCain’s delivering a speech this hour in Denver about his jobs plan and the same type of rhetoric has crept in to an otherwise fine speech about keeping taxes low and supporting small businesses. This time he uses the Clinton/Gore metaphor of “growing the economy”–like it’s a Chia pet that just needs to be watered:

All of us know what is happening to the economy. It is slowing. More than 400,000 people have lost their jobs since December, and the rate of new job creation has fallen sharply. Some economists have noted that companies seem to be on a “hiring strike.” Americans are worried about the security of their current job, and they’re worried that they, their kids and their neighbors may not find good jobs and new opportunities in the future. To make matters worse, gas is over $4 a gallon and the price of oil has almost doubled in the last year. The cost of everything from energy to food is rising.

I have a plan to grow this economy, create more and better jobs, and get America moving again

Thomas Sowell said it simply: “Despite the boastful Clinton/Gore rhetoric about ‘growing the economy,’ government does not create economic growth. The best the government can do is stay out of the way while other people create products, jobs and prosperity.”

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Ed Morrissey reports on the broad themes of the McCain plan/speech. Not much in the way of details yet.